Costume jewelry



I 4 M. D. WYNNE, SR., AL 2,426,571

COSTUME JEWELRY Filed Sept. 26, 1945 MQQWVNNE SR. I T.H.WYN NE.\JR.

Patented Aug. 26, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COSTUME JEWELRY Morgan D. Wynne, Sr., and Tillet H. Wynne, Jr., Grifiin, Ga.

Application September 26, 1945, Serial No. 618,726

3 Claims.

This invention relates to costume jewelry of the type which consists of an ornament made of delicate appendages such as feathers, etc., extending from a body portion, itself of delicate construction, which ornament would become readil damaged if it were necessary to grasp the delicate parts in th act of securing the jewelry piece to the costume.

The object of the present invention is to provide in a piece of costume jewelry an ornament as above described, in combination with a pin construction including fingerholds by means of which the pinning operation may be accomplished without the necessity of handling the delicate portion of the ornament.

Other objects will appear as the following description of the invention proceeds.

In the drawing which accompanies and forms a part of the specification:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a piece of costume jewelry embodying the principles of the invention;

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view;

Figure 3 is a cross-section taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the attachment of the pin to the shank portion.

Referring now in detail to the several figures of the drawing, the numeral l represents the pin unit which is of wire, comprising a shank portion 2, having a pin 3, soldered or otherwise fixed laterally to the shank portion near one end, the pin extending slightly divergently along the shank portion, having its point terminating adjacent the opposite end of the shank portion.

A keeper 4 is fixed to the shank portion adjacent the point end of the pin. The pin is still? but resilient, and normally has its point exposed outside the keeper.

Beyond the end of the shank portion 2 to which the pin is attached, the wire is bent downward in a plane perpendicular to that which embraces the shank portion and pin, constituting a fingerhold 5. Since, in its illustrative embodiment, the ornament is the simulation of a fishin fly, the fingerhold 5 is bent to the general shape of a fishhook, and thus becomes part of the ornamental motif, a factor which of course does not enter into the contemplation of th invention as a mechanical structure.

Beyond the opposite end of the shank portion, the wire is bent preferably in the form of an eye, to form a fingerhold 6 in the .same plane as the fingerhold 5.

The shank portion 2, as shown, forms the core for support for the body of the ornament, which is wrapped or otherwise disposed about said shank portion, leaving the fingerholds 5 and 6 exposed. The body may, for example, be made as a closely laid helix of woolly yarn or chenille, through which the base of the pin and the keeper protrude. The surface of the body may be formed of a deep-pile or nap for the ornamental effect, and which may readily be spoiled if handled.

In the present instance the ornament includes, besides the body, the hackle or ruff 8, which is made of feathers radiating from the axis of the body, and the feathers 9 and [0, which extend from the body abov the horizontal plane which embraces the pin and shank portion, which parts are assumed to be too delicate in structure, and frail in arrangement to stand much handling without detriment.

It is obvious that if there were no fingerholds so that the wearer must grasp the fragile ornament in order to thrust the pin into the clothing and secure it, the ornament would soon become irreparably damaged. The fingerholds provide means for applying the ornament to the clothing without the need of touching it. The fingerhold 5 extends below the body to the rear thereof. By grasping it with the fingers of one hand, the wearer is able to thrust the pin into the cloth. The width of the loop which constitutes this fingerhold gives it an extensive depth dimension in a plane parallel to the cloth to which it is being pinned, preventin the exercise of any excessive twisting movement in inserting the pin, which would bring the feathers into contact with the clothing and tend to disorganize them.

The fingerhold 6 extends beyond the hackle and is useful in holding the forward end of the jewelry piece close against the clothing, while the thumb is pressed against the back of the pin for engaging it with the keeper.

Since the point of the pin may be concealed in the hackle, or the pin substantially hidden in the pile surface of the body, so that it might not be readily discernible to one using the jewelry piece for the first time, which is the pointed end of the pin, the fingerhold 5 is provided with a barb end I], pointing in the direction of the pin point, serving as an index of the direction in which the device is to be pushed to insert the pin into the garment. The points l2 and 13 of the barb end are blunt, to avoid the risk of injuring the wearer or others.

While we have in the above description disclosed what we believe to be a practical embodiment of the invention, it will (be understood to those skilled in the art that the specific nature of the ornament is a matter of choice and the particular shape and arrangement of the parts are by way of illustration and not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention.

What we claim as our invention is:

1. An article of costume jewelry comprising an ornament so inherently fragile as to be susceptible to damage through mere handling, a pin support for said ornament comprising a wire having a shank secured to said ornament, said shank carrying a resilient pin laterally thereof extending longitudinally of said shank, and a keeper for said pin, said wire beyond both ends of said shank being bent to form fingerholds by which the article is held while placing and securing the pin in the clothing, one of said fingerholds being a loop lying in a plane perpendicular to the plane embracing said shank and pin, and below said plane.

2. An article of costume jewelry comprising an ornament so inherently fragile as to be susceptible to damage through mere handling, a pin support for said ornament comprising a wire having a shank secured to said ornament, said shank carrying a resilient pin laterally thereof extending longitudinally of said shank, and a keeper for said pin, said wire beyond both ends of said shank being bent to form fingerholds by which the article is held while placing and securing the pin in the clothing, one of said fingerholds being an open loop lying in a plane perpendicular to the plane embracing said shank and pin, and below said plane, the free end of said p pointing in the direction of the point of said pin.

3. An article of costume jewelry comprising a fishing fly including a body having feather appendages, thereby inherently susceptible to damage through handling, a fishhook shaped wire having its shank extending through said body to support the same, having an eye at one end and a barbed hook at the other, said eye and hook being exposed beyond the respective ends of said body, forming fingerholds, a resilient pin outside said body fixed to said shank adjacent said hook, extending alongside said body in slightly divergent relation to said shank, a keeper for said pin fixed to said shank, the bight of said hook being perpendicular to the plane embracing said shank andpin, and below said plane, with its barbed end pointing in the direction of the point of said pin, the points of said barb being blunt.

MORGAN D. WYNNE, SR. TILLET I-I. JR. 

